What Matters

In the last two weeks our lives have changed.

We lived in chaos for most of the last 3 months; the miscarriage, the breast cancer scare, and the move. We are now settled in our new house. We have new routines, are more organized, and loving more space and less stuff. 12 days out of the last 2 weeks we have managed to sit down and have a real family dinner every night. Something we rarely did before.

It is awesome.

I realized they are really growing up. We have actual conversations. Today we went to the dog park with Milo, to Ikea, and had McDonalds for lunch*. I asked them over dinner what was their favorite thing about today, expecting to hear the playground at Ikea. But all three of them answered, playing in the back yard with us and the puppy before dinner. We make a huge effort to do lots of fun things with the boys, Disney, playgrounds, movies, chuck e cheese, all that fun stuff, but that's not what mattered to them. I SHOULD know that, right? This is basic after school special shit.

I forget.

I worry about our lack of money right now hurting them. The truth is as long as they have clothes, food, roof over their heads, and us, it's okay.

I worry about making the wrong choices when it comes to Noah. About hurting my uber sensitive Jordan. About Isaiah, well not really, seriously he is the most confident person I have ever met. So I actually worry about NOT worrying about him.

I have issues.

We are surviving on an income that has been on steady decline for a little while now and has suddenly plunged us below the poverty line. No, I am not exaggerating. I wish I was. Before the cancer scare and a major reality check this would have sent me into constant panic attacks, now I know it's not what matters. We will find a way and will do what we have to do to get by. Thank God, I am frugal and plan ahead. I had the kids school clothes and shoes purchased months ago. I used coupons for food and all other household items. The kids want for nothing. We will do our freaking best to make sure they never do.

We all worry as parents, we doubt, we fret, we all out freak out, but we do the best we can. Over and over.

*I should mention that the Ikea trip and the McDonalds were all care of my awesome sister.

The New House... Sort of finished

We are settling in. Mostly unpacked, but I need to get the decorating done and buy a whole lot of much needed stuff to do that. You know when money falls from the sky.

Ignore my school shit on the couch.



My dad did the texture work on the walls.

Noah and Isaiah's room. They need new bedding something fierce.

Jordan's room, ok brace your self this room is YELLOW.

Also added, because I want to, a pretty flower picture.

Wordless Wednesday: Milo

Adventures in Moving

Packing, cleaning, and painting oh my...sonofamonkeysuncle I never want to freaking move again.

The actual moving day was exhausting, but it went pretty well, thanks to family helping a lot.

And because I have OCD(I really do) I HAD TO UNPACK THE ENTIRE HOUSE within 24 hours. The next day, I had to hang every picture. After that we got to go back to the old house and clean and paint for several days.

THEN, when we schlepped back to the new house sweating like roofers, the neighbor "kindly" suggested we cut the grass, like NOW. One of the awesome things about this house is the huge back yard, it's like a football field. But with a 107 degree index, cutting it was going to kill my hubby, so I tried to help. Stupid idea. As soon as I turned on the self propelled, my knee dislocated. It took me a few seconds to send the message to by brain to let go of the damn mower. Adding that to the fractured toe and sliced open hand and I am VERY hurty right now. The house looks great now, so it was worth it.

If you noticed I was quiet, it was because during all this, I had no internet. Yesterday the installer was due to come between 3 and 5. At 4:55 I was beginning to freak out, because OMG another day without internet and I would go insane. But just as I called the company he rang the bell.

He was here until 10:30 PM. During that time we discovered a wet spot in the living room under the a/c which caused panic. Thank goodness the handy man is my dad! He figured out that the water was coming from the back of the freezer, the ice machine hose had split so we had to turn the water to the house off. This is important because, the cable man DROPPED A FREAKING DEUCE in the bathroom and couldn't flush.
Which EWWW. But, hey, shit happens. What really skeeved me out was finding him SITTING in my bed. Like where I SLEEP! The internet hook up, which was not working, is in my room, so he was in there for hours, but dude, there was a CHAIR in the room. WHY was he sitting in my bed? Also he turned off my ceiling fan. Make yourself at home dude. He finally figured out the problem at 10:30, but it was too late to fix it. We had the pleasure of him returning at 7 am today. But I FINALLY HAVE INTERNET! Yay.

I hope this make sense because I am so damn tired. Pics of the house to come soon.

And the winner is...................................

eadwyer said...
I have twin girls....one absolutely loves Buzz. She carries him around EVERYWHERE and he sleeps in her arms each night. My other daughter loves Jessie. She likes to dress up in her Jessie shirt, cowgirl boots, and cowgirl hat, riding her horse saying "YeeHaw". Too Cute!

Congrats!! I will be contacting you with details now.

To everyone who didn't win, thanks for entering and please don't forget the special offer to my readers; a special $11 ticket price for select performances: opening night, Friday at 7:30 pm; Sat. at 7:30 pm; and Sunday at 1 and 5 pm. Simply visit the box office or ticketmaster.com and use promo code “MOM” at check out! Note, this price isn’t good for rink side or VIP seats, and there is a maximum of six that can be purchased. For more information on the show, visit www.disneyonice.com.

Also you can enter to win again over at Finding Yourself Despite Yourself .

Update

Things are CRAZY around here. First we weren't moving until next week. Then we were moving in FOUR days. We are moving in FOUR days. Guess what? I am only like 1/3 packed. OOPS.

But there is GOOD news:

Went to the surgeon for the results of the pathology on the breast discharge on Tuesday, it was completely normal! He is not at all concerned; between the clear mammogram and sonogram and his test results, he is convinced the problem was likely a combo of Fibrocystic breast disease and hormonal changes from the many miscarriages I have gone through. He like every other doctor agrees, it is time to give my body a break.

In other happy news, Milo is all healed up from his paw boo-boo and is growing like a pony. He was 22lbs when we brought him home 3 weeks ago. I will not be surprised if he weighs in at 40+lbs on Saturday when he gets his shots. He is already housebroken and crate trained. And has completely fit in with the family. I can't tell you how much he has helped me through the last few weeks. My panic attacks have been so much better since we brought him home.

The kids go back to school on Monday (you know, the day after we move). I have mixed feelings, I will miss them. But, truth be told they are driving me, and each other, batshit crazy. It's either too hot or stormy to play outside. Our house is in shambles and boxes. And netflixs on demand only entertains so long. Praying Noah has another great year and continues to improve and that the other two like their teachers and make new friends (I don't worry about them as much academically). Isaiah is a kindergartner now. My BABY is in elementary school. Big heavy sigh.
The bonus in that? ALL THREE KIDS GO TO ONE SCHOOL. I drop them off all at once and pick them all up at once. YIPPEEEE!!!

I will will be MIA for the next week or so while we settle in!

So help me..

If I ever mention to anyone, EVER again, that I want to have a garage sale in August, SMACK ME. Really.
Two days of hard work, sweating my arse off, and dragging crap in and out and I am $17 richer. That is all.
Today it went from 100 degrees to raining, to 100 degrees, to storming. I am so tired I could cry.
And this was nothing...
Next week, we MOVE.
Someone hold me.

Disney On Ice and a Giveaway!

You know we are HUGE Disney fans around here and Toy Story is at the top of the list. We ride the ride at Hollywood Studios and watch the movies over and over again. So you can imagine how excited I was to be contacted take part in a giveaway for tickets to see the Disney On Ice presents Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3!

The summer’s biggest hit movie, Toy Story 3, and memorable moments from Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are hitting the ice in this awesome live production skating into to the Amway Arena September 10-12! Catch all the heroic action when Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the Toy Story gang escape from the rambunctious tots of Sunnyside Daycare and race for home in their most daring adventure ever. Rediscover the humor, friendship and charm of Toy Story when Disney On Ice presents Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 takes family fun to infinity and beyond!

Just for my readers, they are offering a special $11 ticket price for select performances: opening night, Friday at 7:30 pm; Sat. at 7:30 pm; and Sunday at 1 and 5 pm. Simply visit the box office or ticketmaster.com and use promo code “MOM” at check out! Note, this price isn’t good for rink side or VIP seats, and there is a maximum of six that can be purchased. For more information on the show, visit www.disneyonice.com.

The best part? Here’s your chance to win four ticket vouchers good for any performance of Disney On Ice! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me about your kids favorite Toy Story character. You may also receive an extra entry each for tweeting or posting about this giveaway on Facebook, please leave a comment for each of those including a link. If you do not have a blogger account, please include your email in the comments. The contest will end August 13th at 10pm. Winner will be drawn at random.

Can't wait to see you at the show!

**I was given four tickets for our family to attend, in exchange to sharing this event on my blog.**